1920's The Group of Seven - Home Home 1920's The Group of Seven The Group of Seven The Group of Seven was a group of male artists who formed together in the 192o's. Starting in Toronto, these artists were determined and wantred to express their experiences with Canadian landscape through paintings. At this time Canada was not known for the arts, but with the uniting of this group, people found the appreciation for Canadian art increasing rapidly. From coast to coast and through all weather these seven men brought out the uniqueness of our Country. "After 1919, most creative people, whether in painting, writing or music ,began to have a guilty feeling that Canada was as yet unwritten, unpainted and unsung.....in 1920, there was a job to be done"-Arthur Lismer (group member). History of The Group of Seven | ManorHill Fine Art | Toronto Ontario Canada Contact Us A Brief History of 'The Group of Seven' The 'Group of Seven' is the most famous association of Canadian artists in our country's history.

The seven artists who formed 'The Group of Seven' in 1920 included Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald and Fred Varley. Tom Thomson was a major influence, if not an inspiration, for 'The Group'; but, unfortunately he died under mysterious circumstances in a canoeing accident in Algonquin Park in 1917, three years before 'The Group of Seven' was officially formed. These artists wanted to free themselves from the artistic traditions and influences of England and Europe and set out to be different. They wanted to carve a distinct Canadian identity in art and celebrate what was dear to them about Canada through their expression of the majesty and grandeur of the Canadian landscape. Their work reflects a Canadian spirit with bold use of colour and broad sweeping brush strokes. Initially their new style created controversy. All of the artists started as graphics designers and commercial artists, and with the exception of Lawren Harris, who was independently wealthy and helped to financially support them, had to keep their 'regular' jobs to earn a living. In 1920 'The Group of Seven' held their first exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

They wondered what to call themselves, but no single theme united their work. The only thing that could be said about them was that they were a group of seven artists - hence, the name 'The Group of Seven'. Reviews of their first exhibition were positive. After The Group's first Show in 1920, Frank Johnston dropped out to pursue his own individual direction as an artist and The Group was reduced to only six members for several years. In 1926, A.J. Casson was invited to join 'The Group of Seven'. Based in Toronto, members of The Group travelled all over central and northern Ontario to such regions as Algonquin Park, Algoma, Georgian Bay, Haliburton, and Lake Superior. Many members of The Group also visited and painted across Canada in such locales as The Rockies, The Arctic and the St. Lawrence River in their search for new sources of inspiration. 'The Group of Seven' shared the belief that the rugged beauty of the Canadian landscape represented the spirit of the country.

The journeys to Lake Superior in the late 1920's were the last that the artists made together as a group; by then they had all begun to travel to different parts of the country, exploring their own interests, although they continued to exhibit their work as 'The Group of Seven'. Eight 'Group of Seven' exhibitions were held in the years 1920 - 1931. In 1931, 'The Group of Seven' , which in its last exhibition welcomed the contributions of 28 other artists, decided to disband and form a new group that better represented artists from across the country. The Canadian Group of Painters held their first Show in 1933, exhibiting the work of 52 artists, including work from 'The Group of Seven'. The last member of 'The Group of Seven' - A.J. Casson - died in 1992. The Group of Seven, Canadian Painters - The Art History Archive An Introduction to the Group of Seven: By Brandi Leigh - 2008. Canadian Landscape Painters, the group was formed in 1920 and consisted of seven members � hence the name: Group of Seven.

Franklin Carmichael , Lawren Harris , A.Y. Jackson , Frank Johnston , Arthur Lismer , J.E.H. MacDonald and Frederick Varley . Please Note: Tom Thomson (photo right) was never a member of the group, as he died (disappeared in northern Ontario, presumed drowned) before the group was formed, however he is often linked to the group. Emily Carr was also closely affiliated with the group. MacDonald, Lismer, Varley, Johnston and Carmichael all met at Grip Limited � a design firm in Toronto. Jackson and Harris both became acquainted with the group when Lismer befriended them at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto. This informal group was split up during World War I, when Jackson and Varley served as war artists. Once the war was over, the informal group reconvened and began to travel throughout Ontario. They sketched landscapes and developed different techniques to better their art. The group was greatly influenced by European Impressionism. It was in 1919 that they began to call themselves the Group of Seven � they couldn�t come up with a name, and so Harris dubbed them the �Group of Seven� and it stuck.

The group was initially funded by Harris � heir to the Massey-Harris fortune � and Dr. James MacCallum. Together they built the Studio Building to serve as a meeting and working place for the new Canadian art movement. In 1920, the group had their first exhibition. At this time many people considered the Canadian landscape ugly and unworthy of being painted. They were proved wrong however over the next decade by the Group of Seven. The group became known as pioneers to a new Canadian art, finding new and different ways to portray the beauty of the landscapes. Frank Johnston left the group in 1921 to pursue a job in Winnipeg and a new spot was open for a replacement artist. In 1926, A.J. Casson was added to the group. Members of the group began to travel further across Canada, some visited the west coast, while others went north to the arctic; they were the first artists of European descent to paint the arctic. The Group of Seven's last show took place in 1931; they had come to realize that people were more open to their art and no longer needed the group to stand up against criticism.

In the following years a new group was formed: The Canadian Group of Painters, which included some of the original seven. Today the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinberg, Ontario contains over six thousand pieces from the Group of Seven. Six of the artists are buried in an onsite graveyard at the Gallery. Group of Seven - Picture This! framing & gallery Private: Blog Group of Seven Group of Seven About Group of Seven The Group of Seven was a group of Canadian landscape painters in the 1920s, originally consisting of Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley. Tom Thomson was also associated with the Group, but was never an official member, since he died before the Group was formed. Emily Carr was inspired and admired by the Grou ... Read More Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Algoma Hilltop by J. E. H. MacDonald Born in Durham, England in 1873. MacDonald came to Canada as a teen with his English mother and Canadian father (1887). He started to study art in Hamilton and Toronto.

MacDonald worked at a Toronto commercial art firm, Grip Ltd., from 1895 to 1911. There he became the art director and is well known for his excellent commercial design work. He supervised many artists including Frank Johnston, Tom Thompson, Arthur Lismer and Franklin Carmichael. Mac Donald was the oldest and a founding member of the Group of Seven. Fine Art Print Click image to enlarge Autumn Foliage by Tom Thomson Tom Thomson was born near Claremont, Ontario and grew up in Leith, near Owen Sound. In 1907he joined an artistic design firm in Toronto where many of the future members of the Group of Seven also worked. His first exhibition was in 1913. Beginning in 1914 he acted as a fire fighter and guide in Algonquin Park in Ontario. During the next three years he produced many of his most famous works, including “The Jack Pine and The West Wind.” Thomson disappeared during a canoeing trip on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park on July 8, 1917, and his body was discovered in the lake eight days later. Fine Art Print Click image to enlarge Falls, Montreal River by J. E. H.

MacDonald Born in Durham, England in 1873. MacDonald came to Canada as a teen with his English mother and Canadian father (1887). He started to study art in Hamilton and Toronto. MacDonald worked at a Toronto commercial art firm, Grip Ltd., from 1895 to 1911. There he became the art director and is well known for his excellent commercial design work. He supervised many artists including Frank Johnston, Tom Thompson, Arthur Lismer and Franklin Carmichael. Mac Donald was the oldest and a founding member of the Group of Seven. Fine Art Print Click image to enlarge Flung Beyond the Water by Emily Carr Emily Carr was born in Victoria, British Columbia, and moved to San Francisco in 1890 to study art after the death of her parents. In 1899 she travelled to England to deepen her studies, where she spent time at the Westminster School of Art in London and at various studio schools in Cornwall, Bushey, Hertfordshire, San Francisco, and elsewhere.

In the 1920s she came into contact with members of the Group of Seven (artists) after being invited by the National Gallery of Canada to participate in an exhibition of Canadian West Coast Art, Native and Modern. Fine Art Print Lawren Harris Biography & Paintings - The Group of Seven - The Art History Archive The Group of Seven Frederick H. Varley Lawren Harris Biography: Lawren Stewart Harris (October 23, 1885 � January 29, 1970) was a Canadian painter born in Brantford, Ontario, who was one of the best known landscape painters of the Group of Seven , a group of artists who set out to create a distinctly Canadian art. He pioneered a distinctly Canadian painting style in the early twentieth century. Lawren Harris was born into a wealthy family on October 23rd 1885. He was the first born of two sons. He attended St. Andrew's College in Toronto, and then from age 19 (1904 to 1908) he studied in Berlin. He was interested in philosophy and eastern thought. Later, he became involved in Theosophy and joined the Toronto Lodge of the International Theosophical Society.

In his youth Lawren Harris moved to Toronto, Ontario. He first studied art in Berlin, Germany, from 1904 to 1908. He then returned to Toronto, where he began painting post-impressionist street scenes of the older and poorer areas of Toronto. He continued to paint similar subjects, both of Toronto and of small Ontario towns, into the 1920s. Harris married Beatrice (Trixie) Phillips on January 20th 1910 and together had had three children born in the first decade of their marriage (his son Lawren P. Harris also became an artist). Soon after meeting and becoming friends with J. E. H. MacDonald in 1911, they would later together formed the Group of Seven. In 1913 Harris and J. E. H. MacDonald , another Toronto painter who would later also form the Group of Seven, saw an exhibition in Buffalo, New York, of Scandinavian art. Under this influence, Harris began painting decorative landscape oil paintings. Several Toronto painters joined Harris on outings to northern Ontario, from which they produced landscape oil paintings that represented a new, distinctly Canadian art.

He financed the construction of a studio building in Toronto with friend Dr. James MacCallum. The Studio provided artists with cheap or free space where they could live and work. His school-time friend F.B. Housser was married in 1914 to a woman named Bess. Harris and Bess fell in love, but saw no action that could be made. For the two to divorce their spouses and marry would cause an outrage. Later in 1918 and 1919, Lawren Harris with J. E. H. MacDonald financed boxcar trips for the artists of the group of seven to the Algoma region. Another painting trip after Algoma was to Lake Superior North Shore with A.Y. Jackson (A. Y. Jackson later claimed that Lawren Harris provided the stimulus for the Group of Seven). By 1919 Harris's landscapes had become increasingly sombre and his brush stroke more expressive. During this period, Harris's landscapes, of Lake Superior (from 1921), the Rocky Mountains (from 1924), and the Arctic (1930), became more stylized.

For example, in North Shore, Lake Superior (1926, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa), forms lose texture, while color and light symbolize the interplay between the spiritual and material. Harris was so passionate about the North Shore and fascinated by the theosophical concept of nature, he returned annually for the next seven years. There he developed the style he is best known for. Harris�s paintings in the early 1920�s were characterized by rich, decorative colours that were applied thick, in painterly impasto. He painted landscapes around Toronto, Georgian Bay and Algoma. During the 1920s, Harris' works became more abstract and simplified, especially his stark landscapes of the Canadian north and Arctic. He also stopped signing and dating his works so that people would judge his works on their own merit and not by the artist or when they were painted. In 1920 the Group of Seven was formed and began holding almost annual exhibitions of their work in Toronto. The most intellectual of the group, Harris was a great nationalist and an enthusiast who inspired others. His first trip to the Rockies in 1924 soon became annual, too, for the next three years.

In 1930, Harris�s landscape paintings became simplified as he sailed with A.Y. Jackson aboard a supply ship. In 1934 Harris moved to Hanover, New Hampshire, then in 1938 to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he and other artists formed the Transcendental Painting Group. Harris finally left his wife of 24 years, Trixie and his three children and married Bess Housser. Harris was threatened to be charged with bigamy by Trixie�s family because of his actions. Later that year he and Bess left their home and moved to the United States. In 1940 they moved Vancouver, British Columbia and Harris started his abstract paintings. In 1969 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. Throughout his life, he never had to support himself initially as a teacher or commercial artist (as all the other Group of Seven members had to do), but could support him self as a full-time painter. Lawren Harris died in Vancouver on January 29th 1970 as a well-known Canadian artist.

To Harris art was �a realm of life between our mundane world and the world of the spirit.� Details from the life of Lawren Harris: One of the pivotal figures in the development of landscape painting in this country and a founding member of the Group of Seven, Harris was also a leading abstractionist who believed that colour and form were capable of expressing spiritual truths. Although he studied in Europe and was solidly based in its painting traditions, Harris felt that the realities of the Canadian landscape required something different�something less academic than the British style and more substantial than that of the French impressionists. Around 1915, he and his colleagues found resolve in the example of Scandinavian artists such as Gustav Fjestad, who combined an awareness of issues of verisimilitude with a strong sense of design. While the artists who became the Group of Seven are most renowned for their depictions of the landscapes of rural Ontario, they were essentially city dwellers, as is reflected in Harris' early images of Toronto. Red House, Yellow Sleigh, c. 1920, is a fine example of Harris' early treatment of colour and light, and the almost visceral quality of his paint.

However, Harris came to believe that the landscape outside the city was more spiritually rewarding and began to work farther afield. Beginning in 1918, he sponsored sketching trips for himself and his colleagues, such as A.Y. Jackson, to the Algoma region of Ontario and, later, to the northern shores of Lake Superior. The Lake Superior landscape was admirably suited to Harris' purpose; although foreboding physically, it was, by virtue of its isolation, a "pure" and "spiritual" place. In representing it, Harris began to simplify his palette and forms to create images which have an iconic quality. First Snow, North Shore of Lake Superior, 1923, is one of the finest of these works. A stark image, it is animated by an exceptional, revelatory light which pours over the foreground and silhouettes the background hills. The use of a reduced colour palette and the elimination of a place of purchase for the viewer give the image an unworldly quality, a distance and purity which Harris felt were lacking in the urban situation.

Harris' belief in the purity of the northern landscape derived from his lifelong commitment to theosophy and from his readings of Blavatsky, Ouspensky and others. Throughout the late 1920s, Harris' work has less and less direct relation to the human world, culminating in austerely reductive landscapes of the Rocky Mountains and the Arctic. The reductive nature of these works led inevitably to abstraction. In 1937, Harris moved from Toronto to the United States, becoming involved with the Transcendentalist group in Taos, New Mexico. The abstract paintings he executed there have a coolness and intelligence which is entirely divorced from the romantic connotations of landscape. Their rigour and lucidity are unique in Canadian painting, and had a profound influence on the practice of abstraction in this country. Harris moved to British Columbia in 1940 and became a leading figure in the Vancouver arts community. He was a strong supporter of younger artists and of the Vancouver Art Gallery, and was instrumental in the gallery's acquisition of its important collection of works by Emily Carr .

In his later years, Harris' abstractions became more organic in form but continued to express his belief Throughout his career as an artist Lawren held fast to his dedication to the native Canadian outlook, he first stated in the catalogue of the 1920 Group of Seven exhibition�"The Group of Seven artists whose pictures are here exhibited have for several years held a like vision concerning art in Canada. They are all imbued with the idea that an art must grow and flower in the land before the country will be a real home for its people." Lawren Harris was one of the major leaders of Canadian art for many decades. His life spanned eighty-five years and in that time his philosophy constantly moved him to explore new approaches towards his existence, and his art. His was the main driving force that brought together and joined the varying talents and temperaments which formed the Group of Seven. He was also the founder of the now famous Canadian Group of Painters which succeeded the Group of Seven in 1933.

Throughout a long lifetime of searching his work passed through five major periods; ranging from the impressionistic Toronto "House" paintings of the early 1900's, through richly pigmented landscapes of Algoma, dramatically designed compositions of the North Shore of Lake Superior, the blue and white mystical compositions of the Arctic and Rockies to his last phase of total abstraction. Harris's canvases from his voyage in 1930 to the Arctic on the government supply ship "Beothic" were largely symbolic or complex pictorial designs. He was influenced by the Russian Kandinsky's CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL IN ART and he subsequently incorporated symbolic color into facets of his work. The yellows and blues held a mystical significance; yellow for intelligence and blue for conveying spiritual illumination. Paintings by Lawren Harris Group of Seven - The Canadian Encyclopedia Artists Group of Seven The Group of Seven was founded in 1920 as an organization of self-proclaimed modern artists. In addition to Tom Thomson, Emily Carr and David Milne, the Group of Seven were the most important Canadian artists of the first decades of the twentieth century. The Group of Seven was founded in 1920 as an organization of self-proclaimed modern artists.

With their bright colours, tactile paint handling, and simple yet dynamic forms, the Group of Seven transfigured the Canadian Shield , the dense, northern boreal forest, and endless lakes, into a transcendent, spiritual force. In addition to Tom Thomson , Emily Carr and David Milne , the Group of Seven were the most important Canadian artists of the first decades of the twentieth century. Their influence has extended to artists as diverse as abstract painter Jack Bush and the Painters Eleven , as well as contemporary Scottish (and former Montréaler) figurative painter Peter Doig. Beginnings The original Group of Seven included Franklin Carmichael , Lawren Harris , A.Y. Jackson , Franz Johnston , Arthur Lismer , J.E.H. Macdonald and F.H. Varley . They befriended each other in Toronto between 1911 and 1913. All except Harris, who was independently wealthy, made their living as commercial artists, and several of them even worked together in the same shop. Tom Thomson , another commercial artist, was included in this circle of friends, but since he died in 1917, he never became a member of the Group.

He was important to the other artists, however, for he was an avid outdoorsman and awakened their interest in painting the rugged northern Ontario landscape. The members of the Group were not exclusively landscape painters , and it was only after their first exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the Art Gallery of Ontario ) in 1920 that they began to identify themselves as a landscape school. They were initially drawn together by a common sense of frustration with the conservative quality of most Canadian art up to that point (see Canadian Painting in the 19th Century ). Romantic, with mystical leanings, the Group and their spokesmen zealously, and sometimes contentiously, presented themselves as Canada's national school of painters. This provoked the ire of the artistic establishment, which hated their rhetoric even more than their paintings. Nonetheless, Eric Brown, director of the National Gallery of Canada , always stood by them. He began buying their paintings for the gallery's collection several years before the Group was formally established, and in 1924 and 1925 he made sure they were well represented in the Canadian art shows that went to the prestigious Wembley exhibition in England.

This enraged many members of the Royal Canadian Academy , who felt that the Group were given an unfair advantage, but British press reports were so favourable that both Brown and the Group felt vindicated. Success Like European fin de siècle symbolists and post-impressionists such as Edvard Munch, Paul Gaugin and Émile Bernard, from whom their aesthetic largely derived, the Group rebelled against the constraints of 19th-century naturalism and tried to establish a more equitable and independent relationship between art and nature. They shifted emphasis away from similitude — the imitation of natural effects — toward the expression of their feelings for their subjects. As they often painted together, both in the bush and in the studio, their paintings developed along similar lines. The canvases exhibited in their early shows usually have heavy impasto and bright colours, and are boldly summarized with attention drawn to surface patterning. Following a visit to the stark north shore of Lake Superior in 1921, Lawren Harris began to radically simplify the colour and layouts of his canvases. MacDonald , Carmichael and even Varley soon adopted similar methods, using thin pigment and stylized designs for many paintings.

Harris went further than the others, however, and by the mid-1920s he had reduced his paintings to a few simplified and nearly monochromatic forms. Ten years later he became the only member of the Group, and one of the first Canadian artists, to turn to abstraction. Through self-promotion and friends at the Arts and Letters Club and the Canadian Forum , as well as with the support of the National Gallery, the Group's influence steadily spread during the 1920s. In 1926, after Franz Johnston 's resignation, A.J. Casson was appointed a member. The Group realized they could hardly call themselves a national school of painters as long as they all lived in Toronto, so they admitted Edwin Holgate from Montréal in 1930 and L.L. FitzGerald from Winnipeg in 1932 to give the organization a wider geographic base. Posterity Harris and Jackson influenced and encouraged the next generation of Canadian artists, and Lismer , MacDonald and Varley all became distinguished and influential teachers.

By the time the group disbanded in 1933, however, it had become as entrenched, and in some ways as conservative, as the art establishment it had overthrown. Its influence has therefore been a mixed blessing, and it is not surprising that it was in Montréal with signatories to the Refus Global — such as Jean Paul Riopelle and Paul-Émile Borduas , who did not respond to the Group's call — that the next generation of significant Canadian painters emerged. Paintings by members of the Group of Seven can be found in most Canadian public art galleries, with notable collections at the National Gallery of Canada , the Art Gallery of Ontario and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection . McMichael Canadian Art Collection > Group of Seven Gift of Mr. and Mrs. R.G. Mastin 1975.62 The Early Years In their early careers, many of the artists who would later form the Group of Seven were employed at commercial design firms. It was while working at Grip Ltd. that Tom Thomson, J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston, and Franklin Carmichael first met, discovering their common artistic interests.

The McMichael Library/Archives contains an extensive collection of commercial works by these artists, including the distinctive commercial art of Franklin Carmichael . They began taking weekend sketching trips together. They would often gather at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto, socializing and discussing new directions for Canadian art. In 1913, Lawren Harris convinced A.Y. Jackson to move to Toronto from Montreal. In that same year, Lawren Harris and J.E.H. MacDonald visited the Albright Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York to view an exhibition of Scandinavian paintings. That show was a flashpoint for the creation of the Group. It supported and inspired the artistsâ vision for a distinctly âCanadianâ style. The Group of Seven is Born In 1920, seven artists â Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston, Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson â decided, for the first time, to exhibit as the Group of Seven. The Groupâs first exhibition opened at the Art Gallery of Toronto in May 1920.

This marks the founding of the Group â an exceptional moment in Canadaâs art history for which Lawren Harris is largely credited. Tom Thomson Tom Thomson would not live to see the birth of the Group of Seven. Yet, despite his untimely death in 1917, Thomsonâs name became synonymous with the Group. His sketches and finished canvases created a painting style truly representative of the Canadian landscape and experience. Seven Makes Ten Despite its name, the Group of Seven membership eventually grew to include ten artists. Frank Johnston only exhibited in one of the 1920 exhibitions before resigning from the Group. Following this, A.J. Casson joined the Group in 1926. In an effort to widen the geographical base beyond Toronto, Edwin Holgate (of Montreal) was asked to join in 1930. L.L. FitzGerald (of Winnipeg) joined the Group in 1932. A Lasting Legacy From its birth in 1920 to the early 1930s, the Group was immensely influential. The final Group of Seven exhibition was held in 1931. Yet, their legacy resonates to this day.

The Groupâs Contemporaries Many artists of the same era as the Group felt that there were concerns that were good alternates to the landscape. The Group's contemporaries included David Milne, Thoreau MacDonald, J.W. Morrice, Clarence Gagnon, Albert H. Robinson, Maurice Cullen and Emily Carr. Read more . Note: Photographs of the artists courtesy of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. A Group of Seven Primer: Everything You Need To Know About the Canadian Artists | Northern Ontario Travel An Early Capture of the Group of Seven Everything You Need to Know About the Canadian Artists Staff writer for Northeastern Ontario Tourism July 18, 2014 updated on: August 30, 2016 Perhaps you've heard of the Group of Seven, and their broad connection to Canadian art. You maybe even made a mental note to research it when you found the downtime... and never did. Here's your chance to learn about the artists who, through their dedication to bring a distinct Canadian identity to their art, influenced Northeastern Ontario.

RELATED: Explore the La Cloche and Sudbury areas through the eyes of the Group of Seven In the early 20th century, a group of men began to formulate as they discovered they shared a common artistic interest. Together, these men would embark on weekend sketching trips or socialize at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto. They were in search for a distinct painting style that would not only reflect the unique character of the Canadian landscape, but would break from European tradition. These were Tom Thomson, J.E.H. MacDonald, Lawren Harris, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, A.Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston and Franklin Carmichael. They had become temporarily disbanded during World War I, in which some men were enlisted or became official war artists. A further blow was delivered with the death of Thomson in 1917. Nonetheless, he had a significant influence on the group and his painting style was representative of the Canadian landscape and experience. In May 1920, Harris, MacDonald, Lismer, Varley, Johnston, Carmichael and Jackson decided, for the first time, to exhibit as the Group of Seven at the Art Gallery of Toronto.

This marks the founding of the Group and a historic point in Canada's art history, for which Harris is largely credited. Johnston resigned from the group shortly after. The Guides Home Algonquin (1914) – Arthur Lismer The Group's experiments and dedication created an impact that has been felt through the years and portrayed through the expanding of their success. In 1926, the membership grew to include A.J. Casson, and in an effort to widen the geographical base beyond Toronto and become a National School of Painters, Edwin Holgate, of Montreal, joined in 1930 and L.L. FitzGerald, of Winnipeg, joined in 1932. Feeling the need to again shift their identity over the concern of a possible exclusion of the younger, more progressive artists, the Group officially disbanded and formed a new association in 1933, known as the Canadian Group of Painters, which thrived until 1967. The Group of Seven's influence has also been seen through the emergence of contemporary artists over the years. One such artist was Emily Carr, who was of the same era and closely associated with the Group, but never included as an official member.

Stormy Weather Georgian Bay (1920) – F.H. Varley While the Group members had travelled across regions in their searches, it was Jackson, Lismer, Casson and Carmichael who were most recognized for painting in Northeastern Ontario, often portraying the landscape of Sudbury, Killarney, the La Cloche area, French River and Georgian Bay, along with Manitoulin Island. A Northern Silver Mine (1930) – Franklin Carmichael In fact, it had proved to become the life dedication of Jim and Sue Waddington to discover and document the sites that so inspired the Group. They have since published a book, In the Footsteps of the Group of Seven, on their findings, as well as hosted educational workshops and guided hikes to some of the locations. Nellie Lake (1933) – A.Y. Jackson The Group of Seven and their contemporaries' artwork can be found in Ontario in the collection at The McMichael Gallery in Kleinburg, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, as well as in Ottawa at both the Ottawa Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Canada. But their inspiration lives on in Northeastern Ontario – come see for yourself!

The individual members of the Group of Seven: Tom Thomson (1877-1917) Spring, French River (1914) – Tom Thomson Thomson, who was born near Claremont, Ontario, but grew up in Leith, was an avid outdoorsman and expert canoeist. He spent his time working as a guide at Algonquin Park, until the winter months forced his return to the city. This lifestyle allowed him the time and freedom to paint (he was known to disappear for days in the park). His untimely death in 1917 meant he did not witness the birth of the Group of Seven. Lawren S. Harris (1885-1970) North Shore Lake Superior (1926) – Lawren Harris Harris, born into a wealthy, conservative and religious family in Brantford, Ontario, who were also the co-founders of tractor company Massey-Harris. This wealth meant he was allowed the time to concentrate on his painting. He studied in Germany for three years before returning home to serve in the army and teach musketry at Camp Borden, Ontario.

Following his discharge, Harris organized the first of the famed boxcar trips to Algoma, with the last of these trips being in 1921, when he and Jackson went to the North Shore of Lake Superior and Harris was inspired for a new direction of his work. Harris is credited with being most responsible for the formation of the Group of Seven. His art reflected his interest in theosophy and biology and his search for deeper spiritual meaning. J.E.H. MacDonald (1873-1932) Falls, Montreal River (1920) – J.E.H. Macdonald MacDonald emigrated to Canada in 1887 from Durham, England, with his English mother and Canadian father. He studied at the Hamilton Art School and the Central Ontario School of Art and Design in Toronto. From 1895 to 1911, he worked at Grip Ltd., the commercial design firm, where he would meet the other artists who would one day comprise the Group. In 1922, he accepted a full-time teaching position at the Ontario College of Art.

MacDonald was described as a quiet redhead of frail stature, as well as a romantic with the dreamy air of a poet and philosopher. On sketching trips, when he was not drawing, he could be found with his nose stuck in a book. A volume of his poetry, West by East, was published posthumously. Arthur Lismer (1885-1969) Lismer emigrated from Sheffield, England to Toronto in 1911, where he, too, began working at Grip Ltd. Lismer was described to be full of energy with a barbed wit. He delighted in creating clever cartoon drawings of the other artists and those perceived to be enemies of their art. Nothing pleased him more than to target all things pretentious. With a strong commitment to teaching, Lismer established one of the most successful children's art programs in North America, and in 1936, set up school programs in South Africa. He was also an active promoter of the Group of Seven and the author of articles on Canadian art. F.H. Varley (1881-1969) Also a native of Sheffield, England, Frederick Horsman Varley and Lismer were childhood friends.

However, Varley first studied art at the Sheffield School of Art, then completed additional studies at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, in Antwerp, Belgium, before immigrating to Canada in 1912, where, he too, was employed with Grip Ltd. After serving as an official war artist during World War I, he became increasingly interested in painting the human figure, but the landscape continued to captivate him. He is said to have been restless by nature, and his travels took him to remote areas of the world. Frank Johnston (1888-1949) Serenity, Lake of the Woods (1922) – Frank Johnston Johnston was born in Toronto and another artist employed at Grip Ltd. Although an original member of the Group, he resigned by 1921 to become principal at the School of Art in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was in here that he spearheaded the largest show the city had ever seen and worked with department store art galleries. He later changed his name to Franz and, over the years, shifted his style of art from a strong decorative interpretation of the landscape to a much greater realism, revealing his strong fascination with the qualities of light.

Franklin Carmichael (1890-1945) Growing up in Orillia, Ontario, Carmichael worked in his father's shop as a carriage detailer, which allowed him to practice his skills in the arts. In 1911, his interest took him to Toronto, where he studied art at the Central Technical School and the Ontario College of Art, and later hired by Grip Ltd. He then joined the Sampson-Matthews firm in 1922, where he worked on the illustration and design of a number of promotional brochures, as well as advertisements for newspapers and magazines. Carmichael spent 21 years of his life working as a commercial artist and designer, and the remaining 14 years of his career teaching its methods to others. He was in step with the fashions of the times and his work reflected the flat, simplified design popular in the 1920s. A.Y. Jackson (1882-1974) A native of Montreal, Québec, Alexander Young Jackson left school at the age of twelve and began work at a Montreal printing firm.

He studied at the Art Institute in Chicago in 1906, and a year later, enrolled at the Académie Julian in Paris, remaining in France until 1912. His time there left an Impressionist influence in his work. Harris and MacDonald invited Jackson to move to Toronto in 1913. The following year, he shared space with Thomson in the Studio Building on Severn Street, remaining there until 1955. Alfred Joseph Casson (1898-1992) Beaver Pond Algonquin Park (1940) – A.J. Casson Casson spent his childhood in Guelph and Hamilton, but when his family returned to his birthplace of Toronto, he began attending art classes and working as a freelance commercial designer. While at Rous and Mann, Casson worked under Carmichael and soon began accompanying him on weekend sketching trips. Being a watercolourist, Casson, along with Carmichael and F.H. Brigden, founded the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour in 1925. Casson accepted the invitation to join the Group the following year, thus becoming the youngest member.

Edwin Holgate (1892-1977) Holgate, born in Allandale, Ontario, and raised in Montreal, began studying art under that of William Brymer. He spent several years in Paris, returning to Canada in 1922 to open a studio and teach wood engraving at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Best known for his portraits, Holgate also painted murals, including those for the Totem Pole Room at Ottawa's Château Laurier Hotel. In 1925, Holgate played an instrumental role in the founding of the Canadian Society of Graphic Artists. L.L. FitzGerlad (1890-1956) Born in Winnipeg, Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald was the only western Canadian painter to become a member of the Group. Spending childhood summers on his grandmother's farm, he developed a deep love for Canada's Prairies, and his paintings reflected the strength of those ties. After the Group disbanded in 1932, FitzGerald became one of the founding members of the Canadian Group of Painters, a successor to the Group.

Request a free printed guide > Kirsten Hysert Kirsten is a staff writer for Northeastern Ontario Tourism with a love for travel, photography and exploring the outdoors in Northern Ontario. Find out more about Northeastern Ontario by visiting , or email her at [email protected] .

Question: The 1920's art known as 'The Group of Seven' was formed in which country?
Answer: CANADA